As My Ratings Plummet I Am Encouraged That Some People Love Me

I was somewhat freaked out by my recent Sitemeter statistics. In the past, my view ratings have remained fairly constant despite my flagging post numbers. Today however I noticed an unprecedented 30% drop in page views, a staggering body blow to the authorial ego. Upon checking my last post I noted that it has been 24 days since my last effort so really, I've gotta say...fair do-s guys. I actually need to lift my game.

I blame Small Boy of course. I pretty much blame him for everything nowadays. He has been back at his mum's for 5 weeks and I have noted a measurable drop in blood pressure and cursing. From me that is. Himself continues unabated.

I suppose I shouldn't be facetious. Life has been testing of late and that, I suppose, is the main reason I haven't been writing. Or taking pictures.

I did take this one the other day as I sat waiting for Al to turn up (or not) for his tutoring session.

I had warned him that he would need to go back to basics and we certainly have. I have challenged him, and his male African pride, in a biiiiiig way but I've got to say he has generally hung in there. I keep reminding him that if he did the on-line homework I set him he might progress faster; but he is a 21 year old, good looking, socially and financially pre-occupied young man and if that wasn't enough he has recently enrolled in uni! Half the time I think he would be just as happy to sit and chat as do any maths (now there's a surprise).  In the last few weeks he has cancelled once and let me down once. I sensed that he was becoming despondent as we ploughed over the same ground plus I knew he was going to be pretty fully occupied by his Uni course (he tells me it is a 'Creative Writing' course but after hearing his subjects yesterday I would say its probably some sort of Social Communications degree).

Stressed to the max by endless meetings and the in-school challenge of getting an autistic child to do anything resembling learning at all (see below*), I texted him yesterday to ask whether we were meeting. Previously I have made myself unconditionally available in an effort to reassure him that he could depend on me. This time, after a few hours of no response I suggested we could give it a miss. Just when I thought I was off the hook I got a text:
"Is everything okay?"
Of course I sucked it up and went in to meet with him.

Later when we discussed it he expressed concern for me but said " Mrs A, if you had just left it at the first text I would have been happy to have another night off. But because you sent me the second text I thought maybe you really wanted to come after all? My friend said I should just check you were ok and so I did."

My exceptionally tired brain didn't really deal with all this at the time but afterwards I thought about it and was stunned by his lack of comprehension of social cues. My first text had been clear: 'Are we meeting tonight. Don't mind if you need a break. Just let me know.'
His response to that was to think, 'oh, we aren't meeting tonight'...but no text to confirm. When I sent the second text 'I haven't heard from you but life is super crazy at the moment so if I don't hear anything from you I'll give it a miss tonight', he interpreted this as me wanting to come, rather than me trying to get off the hook!

This interests me because of the recently identified overlap between early neglect and abuse and autism. The autistic person, so much as they are able to reason, will surmise that since you said "are we meeting tonight?" and their answer was no, that you would automatically know this. Hence there is no need to text and confirm.  Now Al is definitely not autistic; a more forthcoming and people oriented person you could not find, but his early years spent in a refugee camp and his childhood of neglect and horror has definitely left a scar. In this misunderstanding he clearly exhibited some of the key signs of the disability incurred by his early childhood trauma. What concerns me is that if he makes these kind of mistakes with employers, he will have no idea why he has been sacked.

Anyway, the session was worth the effort because I think he saw some progress in himself last night. We are working at such a low level: two times tables; the relationship between fractions, decimals and percentage; word problems. Many times it is the words that trip him up. Last night he tackled some basic word problems around multiplication and division relatively confidently.
Of course when I threw in an addition and subtraction problem he was lost again but that is neither here nor there :-D  There was a brief lightbulb moment when he saw that 50/200 is the same as 25/100  and another when he was able to relate hundredths to tenths. It was one of those 'quick jump' nights when the last few have been plateaus.

At school I have had some moderate successes with an Asperger's student*; I'm going to call him Raymond. Raymond is a classic sensory seeker. He sniffs things, loves the sensation of a weighted cushion on his knees, leans into you for a cuddle and loves to have his back rubbed. If we don't do these things he lies on the floor and rolls around getting the sensation from there. He hates playdoh unless he is wearing gloves and is mortally afraid of making a mistake. Recently we have included him in a spelling group which has been an amazing blessing. Another group may have been incredibly disrupted but this little trio is phenomenally tolerant and have enabled him to feel somewhat normal by joining in with their activities. Yay!! (subdued celebration...just in case)

Finally, I sent an email out to staff a few nights ago, reminding them of a number of children in their classes with learning difficulties. I invited them to contact me if they had any problems or questions but to my surprise I got this:

1) Hi Arizaphale,

I just want to let you know that I think you are a truly remarkable woman. These emails that you regularly send out, your diligence and persistence in seeing needs met and gaps closed, and your gentle encouragement prompting teachers to keep on top of these issues, are all incredibly valuable and rare qualities that are so desperately needed.

I don’t ever want you to feel like you are not listened to, or that your work is in vain. As a mum of a child with Aspergers, and having had to witness his growing frustration and sadness in a school where he is not listened to, understood, or recognized, I felt it was important to tell you that what you are doing here is SO important. We are lucky to have you.

2) Love your work Arizaphale.   It is even helpful for Admin to have some idea – it just helps.

They are all very lucky to have you on their “team” A.

Xooxoxoxoxoxo   Bless the work of your hands abundantly! 

 

3) Thanks for all the care and  work you put into our kids Arizaphale.

We can’t always see what we reap but I think our kids lives reflect the love and consideration the Rainbow Rooms puts into these kids.

I was not expecting such a generous outpouring of thankfulness! It just served to remind me that the quiet beavering we do is actually bearing fruit. Tomorrow I have two important meetings, a transition meeting with another young African man in Year 12 and a Personal Learning Plan meeting with one of our indigenous pupils. Both are new ideas which I have not tackled previously so I am praying that I have the sensitivity and expertise to ensure that they are worthwhile and productive meetings.

Meanwhile in a frenzy bordering on ecstasy I have booked my tickets for my trip to the UK this Christmas. I cannot tell you how excited I am!!!!

Long Time Coming

A long time ago I started this blog, partly to keep my overseas family informed about our day to day life and partly to talk about parenting in the 21st Century. This blog kept me busy for a very long time and through it I met some fantastic friends.

 A Free Man and his Encumberances

A Strange Scottish Girl

There are others too; some who have become facebook friends; people I would be seeing for coffee regularly if we were not separated by thousands of miles.

As the tyranny of facebook took hold we found ourselves coming here less and less. Our posts became shorter and less detailed. Our 'writing' became 'note making'.

And then the purpose of this blog became difficult to manage. As the objects of my 'parenting' became increasingly more salient beings with minds and opinions of their own, there came a time when I could no longer post willy nilly about their everyday happenings. Where they had been delighted to see themselves on the blog page they became blase, irritated and somewhat possessive of their own images (ironic given the wanton abandon with which they post them on facebook!)

And I could no longer comment on the parenting process as the subjects of this process were waaaay too alert and attuned to my activities. More and more as I needed to talk about my parenting journey I was able to use my forum less and less.

A salient lesson for all parents. Don't TELL them you have a blog :-D

But shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
I think they've stopped looking........

Unfortunately, so has everyone else :-D

But hey, the autobiographical nature of this blog  meets a need for me. The ability to look (and read) back on things I think I remember and to be surprised (delighted/mortified) at the reality of the moment,  is such a gift. My scrap-booking has fallen by the wayside recently, even my photo-taking has dropped off. Occasionally in a sodden, hormonal state I may scrawl in a real life journal (most of which I cannot read the next day) but in reality, much of life at the moment is racing by in a superficially facebook notated glaze. I gotta tell you, facebook is a poor cousin to blogging.

 And such momentous things have been happening.

Here is a random 'round-up':

1. my 17 year old daughter has finished school and looks toward her future
2. she also thinks I am irritating and lame
3. having been my best picture going buddy for years she now wants to see things like 'Prometheus' and 'Hideous Scarey Paranormal Death Movie' (oh, alright, I know that's not a real movie....but you get the picture!)
4. actually, she would rather go anywhere with her boyfriend rather than with me
5. my 17 year old (under aged) daughter recently asked me to provide her with alcohol for a party(wt?????????????????) .
6. This year she was dumped by her first (long term) boyfriend
7. She has since met and started seeing a 20 year old young man who is in the ARMY!!!!! On a good note, he's a Christian, on a neg note....he will be deployed shortly.......
8. my 14 year old stepson no longer comes to stay with us
9. he continues to ask for taxi services and money
10. he has recently been diagnosed with a specific learning difficulty (thank you step mother for noticing that I was struggling!!!!!! .........>:-( .....as if)
11. there has been a whole lot more interaction between the Small Boy's mother and Himself (a good thing) and he may even change schools and go to the independent school we had initially suggested (....I really hope she offers to go halves) which has to be good for him! I hope.
12. A few months back I completely lost it with the Small Boy (see point 8)
13. My shoulder injury earlier in the year really impacted on my health, fitness and attitude. I put on a HEAP of weight. More than I have EVER put on before. Menopause may have had an impact on this.
14. I WENT THROUGH MENOPAUSE!!!!!!!! (WTF????)
15. We came into some money (Praise God!!!!)
16. We absorbed a lot of it in clearing up some issues with our business >:-(
17. Our partner did a runner. >:-(
18. We discovered we were a lot better off without him! :-D
19. I started working at the business in a bill paying, book keeping capacity!
20. We have had some significant improvements made to our house. There are more to come!!
21. My job has become increasingly stressful
22. I still love my job
23. We have heard nothing from No1 Son in 6 months. This is not a good thing.
24. No 2 Son is still living downstairs with the cockroaches. At 23 he occasionally works as a builder's labourer with a friend. No girls visit (anything to do with cockroaches??) but he seems to be in a very happy relationship with his Playstation.
25. I have had to make/buy a lot of formal dresses this year and another one is on the way!
26. My sister visited in October and my Mum and Dad are here now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 So, there we are in a nutshell. I suspect a few of these 'entries' will need explanation as I go along. But for now I am happy just to be writing again.

Behind the Barricades

Recently, whilst looking back over posts to find a picture I'd lost in the tangle of changing machines and corrupted external drives, I found this post.

It made me sad because I used to be quite funny.

Sure my job was a nightmare and my stress levels through the roof, but I was observing things with a keen eye and I hadn't lost my sense of humour. Now, as I look back over the last few months here at The Sword, I see superficial posts with a hat tip to reality and with dwindling attempts at humour and insight. Of course, it's indicative of where we are in life but it still makes me sad. Hell, I wouldn't want to read me.

So, in an effort to clamber over the roughly proportionate brick walls of malaise and life demands which tower threateningly over  my creativity and humour, I'm going to fill you in, as tactfully as possible, on the recent vagaries of life at The Sword although, to be honest, it isn't tact that's stopped me writing around here; I was never overly blessed with tact. :-)

A number of things have happened recently, some good, some bad, some a little ambiguous (we shall see how they turn out). Himself and I are struggling with health issues, No 2 Son is unemployed again, Small Boy doesn't come by any more and the Baby Angel is in the throes of her final year at school. Even without recent events, we have out hands full.

The good thing that's happened is that Himself's uncle has left us what looks to be a sizeable legacy. The bad thing is that the two of us now have to agree on how to use it! I would like to reduce our mortgage as much as possible, as well as replace that retaining wall which has been causing us grief for some years now.
Himself would like to put a sizeable chunk of it into the business. *Sigh*
Business is the big issue of course. Being self employed in this economic climate is not a comfortable thing. Of course, as the economy bunny hops along, people want websites to promote their business and whilst there is no problem in attracting the clients,  many don't actually have the readies with which to pay, at least not within our '14 day payment' terms. This leaves us with cash flow issues and naturally when there's not enough to go around, it's the Boss who misses out.We seem to have been standing still financially for as long as Himself and I have been together. So whilst Himself sees the inheritance as an opportunity to invest in the business, I see it as throwing wads of bank notes into a black hole.

The ambiguous thing is that Himself's business partner sauntered into the office a month or so ago and announced he was moving to the UK. Has had already sold his house. With a creative partnership stretching back nearly 15 years, Himself was gutted by the bombshell delivery of the news.

I suppose we should have seen it coming. With the employment of a couple of super hot young programmers in the last few years Business Partner, as the technical arm of the partnership, has been feeling more and more inadequate and disempowered. Add to this the fact that his wife wants to live in a cooler climate and his son to attend a european university and it was really only a matter of time. I guess we just wished he had discussed it before it became a fait accompli.

Naturally, this has produced a flurry of restructuring, not the least of which was our recent sojourn to Kangaroo Island for a 'Restructuring Workshop'.

The remaining 'gang' gathered at our favourite island resort to see how roles could be re-organised and tasks re-allocated. It was good to do this away from the somewhat claustrophobic confines of the office and the continual interruption of phone and emails.

This:

Versus:

The interesting thing about the whole exercise is that it included me. Up until now I have had a fairly remote input into Himself's business activities. I have provided voice-overs, proof read content, tested new sites and occasionally collated print materials but I have not been involved in the day to day running of the office or in the strategic nature of the business. With the departure of BP this looks set to change.

Himself ran a very tight workshop over the one and a half days. I minuted, drew up a framework of aims, goals and objectives and helped to run through the 'who' and 'when' of an Action Plan. Apparently they thought I did a wonderful job because they also want me to come into the office on my one day a week off to chase payments, pay accounts and organise the filing system!

I am not sure how I feel about this.

*********************

Also behind the barricade of doom and gloom are our health issues which are at once debilitating, depressing and expensive. Mine of course is the old shoulder problem which has surprisingly lain dormant for three and a half years. On re-reading this post I am shocked by how similar my symptoms are to this time, but how quickly they were cured by an injection last time. According to latest ultra sounds, I now have a full thickness tear of the tendon although, unlike in this picture, mine is probably more towards the front of the supraspinatus. It was sustained in the incident I described here although, it is likely that I had a pre-existing superficial tear (even though I can't remember any specific trauma) which has just ripped right through. Whatever the pathology of the thing, it ain't going to go away by itself and impacts on my ability to do many of the heavier manual tasks about the place that seem to fall to me. Strangely, it is my sleep which is most affected.

Lying still in one position for any length of time seems to cause nerve irritation and I am waking up in the early hours with intense burning pain down the front of my arm. Ack. Talking about it is enough to bring the shadow of those twin brick walls back over my head. My immediate inclination, right now, is to stop writing, get a large glass of wine and do something vaguely organisational like, oh I don't know, re-arranging deckchairs on the Titanic.

Himself is suffering with major dental issues which affect his quality of life and, like all dental issues, threaten to be hugely expensive. He wants to go the cheap route but I don't want to be married to someone with full dentures! :-( Bear this in mind any of you who still struggle with smoking. It is another aspect of the revolting habit which will come to plague you in later life!!

Stepsons are my other heartache. As briefly as possible I will mention some of these issues, as they do impact on me, although I know they are not actually my issues to discuss. No 1 Son is traveling a very dark path at present with addictions, money problems and even physical threats to his safety. He has been out on his own for 5 years now so we only see and hear about these things as the situation deteriorates. Himself is determined that No1 Son's problems will not impact upon the others.
No 2 Son is still living downstairs in his 'Pit' and we have some hope for him, if he could only get a direction in life. He is unemployed again at present and lacks the resilience to hammer on doors and flood businesses with his 'resume'. I feel strongly that if he could just find his passion and be given a break, he would blossom. OK it may turn out that he's more of a Patterson's Curse  than a Forget-Me-Not but hey! there's nothing like a big field of blue in the Spring. He often has good intentions.
Small Boy is breaking all our hearts at present. He has started High School and has simultaneously decided that he has better things to do than spend the weekend with a busy dad and two boring girls (The BA and I). In some ways, it is to be expected that his life will revolve less and less around the family, as indeed has been the case for the BA as she stretches her social wings; but I was just not expecting it so soon. And I strongly feel that his parents could be making more of a stand. And his first secondary school report reflects the state of play.

So that briefly (hah!) is life here behind the Barricades. I am hoping to recover my humour and energy and start writing, I mean really writing, again. I'm just not quite sure how to go about it.

I Crashed Blogger!!!!

Huh. After several heavy nights trying to tell the story of the BA and her teapots, I must have put too many photos in and crashed my site!

I will have to try again and tell it in stages.....bear with me please.

I have been pretty quiet of late here because we have been focusing on the Teapot Exhibition, the BA's exams, report writing at my school and a constant whirl of netball, rehearsals and Church. Add to that mix the arrival of a bloggy friend from the UK and you will have some idea of the busy-ness of life.

We are struggling with many things BA related at the moment, for which she will not thank me if I broadcast them here :-(. A shame really as I feel a need to document them and a need to vent! I am sure she would find my missives educational and poignant in years to come. Wouldn't she?

OK. Perhaps not.

It leaves me tongue tied however, as it fills so much of my consciousness.

Nevertheless, we will have a post for Crafty Tuesday tomorrow as I will try once more to load up the teapot pictures and give you a flavour of the family affair that exhibition turned out to be!

Not Dead....Just Working

Ssssshhhhh. I'm Back On The Island

In a surprise move, Himself got us over to KI for the weekend for the occasion of The Small Boy's birthday!

They're off sandboarding and I am relaxing at the resort and am meant to be working!

Sssshhhhh

Everyone's OK!!!! We're Just Busy

For those of you who thought we may have slipped off the face of the Earth, I just wanted to let you know that we are OK and will be returning to normal broadcasting soon. I hope.

The Baby Angel had her 15th birthday on the weekend and I haven't even uploaded a picture yet.
She was a little disappointed as she didn't have a party ( due to work commitments..hem hem) but we hope to remedy that in the next few weekends.
She did get to see Vampire Weekend at the Entertainment Centre...unsupervised!!!
She has also asked me to tell you that she did not get a cake. It's true. I failed. But I have assured her that she will get one when she has her sleepover party. Sheesh. The pressure.

Anyway, isn't 15 the age at which birthdays start to be kind of non-eventful? No? I'm ahead of myself aren't I.

Well, I'll get pictures up when I can. This week is NAPLAN, which I co-ordinate, so I have been busy sharpening 100 pencils, sorting 100 test papers into class sets (they come individually named) and teaching teachers how to read a script and supervise the tests in a standardised manner; which does not include giving them assistance or letting them sit next to each other, as I suspect happened last year.

I have also been to another Maths course (lots of fun problem solving) and created havoc directing runners during the Cross Country on Thursday. I have watched netball games, run the termly Kids Service at church (including steering the Youth as their leader was ill with pneumonia) attended birthday parties, been a taxi service and accompanied my daughter to see 'Iron Man 2' on her birthday (meh.....not as good as the first).

This morning I got up at 4.30am to get some school work done.

I'm not sure how long we can keep up this pace.......

Team Up Thursday (er Saturday...):Green

Things have reached a new low. Not only have I posted nothing since Friday...I couldn't even get Team Up Thursday up on time....although I had it ready! There just always seems to be something else to do. So here it is, although JoLyn got it up on Thursday and did all the posting and commenting on everyone else's diptychs. She probably has something more intelligent to say about it too; my first week back at school has been neuron crunching.

I'm trying to get a post together to sum up the recent weeks...

An Invite To Coffee and Chat

I can't believe I was lucky enough to jag the amazing JoLyn as a partner in Team Up Thursday. Not only is she an amazing photographer with an eye for beauty but she is a mover and shaker! After a cool post reminiscent of a blog carnival, she has decided to put together a weekly Blog Cafe. The idea is that a variety of bloggers will host the cafe and decide upon on the 'venue', 'food' and topic of conversation. The first post will be at 12.01 on Monday wherever the host is in the world. The attendees will call by whenever it's convenient and have their cup of coffee and chat then. :-) Hopefully people will call by more than once and the conversation will bounce back and forwards.

Check out this post to see JoLyn's much more emotive explanation and also a few basic rules of blog etiquette.

I'm hoping to host the cafe in the next few months so stay tuned and I hope a few of you will join in and perhaps meet some kindred spirits or be challenged in some (positive) way.

Cos hey, there's nothing we like better than a chat right?
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Which reminds me of a conversation I had with my mother and Himself recently.

Someone had mentioned that the women in our family are all good talkers. Whilst resembling that remark I was also quick to point out that I can sit for hours in the same room as Himself and never utter a word. I am very proud of the way I am able to let my husband 'get on with' his work and don't feel the need to talk at him constantly.

"Yes well, that's only because you're talking to the entire WORLD on your blog and facebook!!!!" Himself was quick to point out.

Hmmmmmmmmm. He may have a point there :-D

Tiny Blogaholic Fix

It's 2.58pm. In about 20 minutes I have to pick the BA up from school and then go to the gym. I must do this second part because my clothes do not fit me any more. At 5.20pm or so, I will be retrieving my parents from the airport after their trip to Tassie. After that we'll go back to my place and one of us (perhaps Himself) will make dinner and we will talk about their trip. I will take them home later. I will help the BA with homework and see her off to bed. Then, somewhere between then and tomorrow morning, I will prepare work for my 4 classes tomorrow, mark homework, make a spreadsheet for Sports Carnival next Wednesday and hopefully sleep. Whatever, I will not have time for blogging. Which is why I'm getting my fix now........

A small note on the BA's Swimming Carnival last night. My alma mater is not a swimming school it appears. We had one first place the whole evening and many lasts :-) Oh well. The BA was only in one race, the 4x50m freestyle relay, and she held her own. As I said to her, imagine what you could have done if you had been training!!!!! I'm trying to think of a way to get her into a training pattern. Maybe early morning swims at a local pool on the train line and a train trip to school afterwards? It would get me up earlier too. It would not get me into the pool however.

Adios Amigos!!

Sssshhhhhh. I Am Meant To Be......(pick something)

Augh. This blog posting gig is suffering badly this year. I am trying a little thing called 'time management', an experiment which is mostly failing due to facebook, but that is the main reason for my absence.

This year at school I am teaching Year 7 Maths, a newy, as well as Year 9 and 10 Maths and Year 11 Numeracy for Work and the Community. Year 8 Maths is also lurking in the wings but should be a swap for Year 11 in Semester 2 so I won't worry about it yet.

As always, something new lands on my plate every year and nothing is a simple case of 'trotting out last year's course'. I've never taught Year 7 Maths; in NSW where I trained as a primary teacher, we only went to Year 6. The Year 9s are not too bad although they are significantly worse than last year's bunch so everything is having to be slowed down and repeated; the Year 10s are an Applied class rather than a General (like last year) and Year 11 is a completely new course which we are running in order to get some of our worst babies through the new SACE (SA Certificate of Education) requirements of 'at least a C in maths'.

Don't start me on the SACE. It is basically an attendance certificate. A method of keeping kids out of the dole queue :-(.

The week away at Year 10 camp, 3 weeks ago, set me behind the 8 ball I'm afraid and I am still catching up with myself. Add to that; the BA's new school and new focus on schoolwork; Kidszone at church and an invitation from a network leader to join a new State Kid's Ministry vision group; sailing; my mum and dad trying to sell their holiday house here in Aus and the rest of regular, lifely things and you will see why my Time Management needs work.

But news! The Baby Angel has a JOB!!!!!! She has become the latest slave in the McDonald's chain-gang and spent an hour on her laptop last night, undertaking an online training package. With quizzes. Who knew?

Other BA news. School is going well. She is in the musical (Oliver), has joined the volleyball team (woeful but fun) and has been selected to swim for the school in the local interschool carnivals. The first one is tonight although I don't think she's going to do too well as she is full of cold and I can hear her coughing from the bathroom as I type. She played drums at church again last Sunday and is still enjoying her lessons although doesn't get enough opportunities for practice. (I still won't have a kit in the house.) Oh and her netball team are in the semi-finals this weekend. Hmm.....do you think she is taking after me in doing too much?

Himself is excited by the prospect of a new crew and frantically busy with work. After our wonderfully bonding sailing experiences I am resigned to once more passing him in the corridor as I wake and he goes to bed. I am trying a new regime which includes going to bed at 10pm and getting up at 5am to do school work. Unfortunately blogging got in the way this morning.

No 2 Son continues to vague his way through life. Conversation at the dinner table last night
Me: So, you did some washing I notice. Didn't you have to go to TAFE today?
Him: mumble mumble mumble, that lecture in the city.
Me: errr.....so did you go to the lecture in the city or not?
Him: I tried.
He did not elaborate and frankly, I was too confused to pursue the matter any further.
On the weekend he came upstairs from his pit and asked if I had any books on 'The Northern Renaissance'. Errr, surprisingly, no! Why did he need it?
"Well, I've done a visual critique on an artwork and I've just realised I have to include references to two books as well as the internet, so I just need a couple of titles."

Why doesn't he just google the titles? Might as well.

Must go and do WORK. It's 6.30am but it's my late start morning so I don't have to leave until 7.45am!!! Tonight at the swimming I am 'timing'. Will try to take pix of my girl........

PS: The Weather Widget Is Asleep Again

It currently says 27C.
Well, yeah! Here under the air conditioning vent MAYBE!!!! I wonder where their thermometer is???????

Missing In Action

I admit it. I've kind of been living at ebay and facebook lately! I don't know what's the matter with me; I don't feel like writing. Maybe it's the weather? Over 37c again today and forecast to last til Saturday!! :-(

I'm currently in the market for an overlocker (serger for you US types). I lost out on one the night before the big wedding because I was so busy sewing the BA's dress that I forgot to check on the auction progress. I've got a lot to learn about this ebay thing. Turns out that one didn't do rolled hems which are apparently a big plus and certainly would have been a good thing on the BA's dress (I felt the hem I had painstakingly hand sewn looked neat but heavy; rolled may have been better) so maybe it was for the best.

I've tried to do a little research on the various brands but there's remarkably few user reviews. It's also tricky to find out whether the second hand machines on ebay do the rolled hem and whether they have an automatic setting or need a cumbersome needle and plate change. Predictably, companies are more keen to tell you about their current models.

There's a Janome Mylock 654D (I think) going and I'm in the running but I'm trying to decide whether to go over the Au $150.00 mark. Postage has to be considered as well. Does anyone know this machine and whether it's worth it?

Aside from that I had a very interesting weekend catching up with a friend from Teacher's College whom I hadn't seen for 20 years! She had tried to find me some years ago, phoning everyone in Sydney with my maiden name and asking if I lived there. I was deeply touched. Finally she found me on 'friends reunited' which lists people against their schools and training or tertiary institutions. I signed up for that site in 2000 and am still listed under my maiden name.

I picked her up from the airport on Friday night and we had a wonderful catch-up at the BA's netball match (they won and she played VERY well). Unfortunately, with a sleepy BA on my hands I had to drop her at her accommodation that night and meet up again the next morning.

Boy we can talk!

We talked all through the morning, all through lunch (Italian), all through my drive by tour of the city, scenic trip through the hills to my place, tour of the house, drive back to the city, pre dinner drinks, dinner (Thai) and nightcap. By 11.30pm my eyes were rolling in my head but I attempted to continue carrying on a conversation, surrendering only when I started talking about staircases in my sleep whilst sitting upright at the table!

I camped responsibly over on her couch and then took her to the airport in the morning, after MORE talking.

Well, we had a lot to catch up on :-D

Back to school today and I'm on a course about Numeracy Support for two days. So far it has been quite interesting and challenging. Much of the basic stuff I am familiar with but the challenge is how to apply it to disenfranchised teenage learners.

And just because I have been lazy of late and because you haven't heard much from my classroom babies, try these little beauties from the recent Y8 test on Co-ordinate Geometry and Line Graphs.

A graph is presented showing the weight and length of puppies on the y and x axes respectively. Pupils are asked to order the puppies according to length and then to order them according to weight. Surprise, surprise the order is different. The final question asks:
" Is it true that longer puppies are always heavier? Give a reason for your answer."

Here are some of the responses:

" No because it says Spot 's length is long but he ways (sic) the least of all of the dogs.
I had a dog really short but he weighs a lot."

"Not all the time and it depends what dog it is."

"No because Oscar is the heaviest dog and he is not the longest." (errrrr yes he is.....)

"If a puppy is longer than another it's going to be heavier because it has more fat and skin and bones."

*sigh*

Now I'm off to mark the Year 10 Taxation and Depreciation/Interest tests.

Wish me luck............

The Waiting Game

I am so excited...Dr O'C the long suffering partner of A Freeman is in labour!!!!!!!!!
We are waiting with bated breath! The BA and I (and AFM if the truth be known) are hoping for a girl. I have my embroidery needle handy, ready to start on the baby vests once I know whether it's roses or diggers!!!!!

Break In Transmission

We apologise for this hiatus in posting, but this weekend I must complete 3 classes worth of reports including grades, comments and a Care Group.

After that I have some exams to modify and more than a couple of my own to write as well!!

On a very warm and fuzzy note, I modified an exam for one of my frustrating, problematic Year 11s yesterday. Today as he scanned through the pages he was about to attempt, he looked at me with big eyes and said "Wow, did you write all this just for me???? That must have taken you AGES."

It's moments like that.........

Adios buddies....I'm off to that big Excel markbook in the sky for a few days.

'Share a Plate': A Free Man Style

Fantastic dinner last Sunday, over at A Free Man's place where we met two new Adelaide bloggers. OK, they are actually American bloggers IN Adelaide but, whatever.

I took some nice photos but in the interests of privacy I won't post them.

I have no compunction about posting pictures of Boy Z though. Firstly, his father posts enough that he is well known web wide, secondly, as his father also points out, he is a damn fine looking kid! He seems to be getting over his visceral fear of my very visage but his real crush is the Baby Angel. He was all over her! Laughing, squealing, chasing her and running away. They got settled under the stairs playing with this toy and I'm not sure the BA realised what a picture she presented to those of us walking upstairs! I took this shot from between the open steps.

(photo of the BA's builder's bum removed by request)

(heh heh heh)


She may kill me for that later.....or soooner!!!!

We ate well, as you always do at Chez Freeman/O'C. I didn't get a photo of Himself's gorgeous antipasto platter or AFM's delicious duck gumbo, but I recovered myself enough to take this one of the multi dessert offering.

That's a superb mixed berry cobbler from the good Dr (O'C), a sensational apple pie US style (although I argue it can't be a pie by definition if it doesn't have pastry cover...so then what is it?) and down the very end there...a home made pavlova by moi: banana, passionfruit and grated chocolate atop cream and a baked meringue. I would have added strawberries too but it was kind of a last minute decision to make it (cheesecake was going to take too long to set) and I didn't have any.

So a great night was had by all (I think...but then I didn't have to do the washing up). Amazing the experiences this bloggy world provides.

Great to meet you girls, and your delightful husbands. Too bad my anti social one was working. Again >:-(

Still he assures me this weekend will be work free.

Up Up And Away........

I'm off to Sydney for a few days and don't know if I'll have too much internet access (or time to browse more's the point) so ADIOS!!! See yuz all on Saturday.

Don't have too much fun while I'm away...........

A Strategy

OK, I've had this great idea.

Currently, my weeks are effectively strangling the life out of my blogging time (and lots of other parts of my life too). By the time I get to Friday night or Saturday I have half a dozen stories up my sleeve, none of which I can do justice and which, if presented all at once, may overwhelm my dwindling readership. Ah-hah! Lightbulb. I'll draft all the stories as separate posts and then put them up one at a time through the week when I have no time to 'create'.

If only the rest of my life could be tackled in a similar vein.

In Which Jill Tackles The Big Issues

Oh, I forgot to mention...
Jill at Twipply Skwood finally got around to answering the final few questions I posed her from 'Interview 2009'. I think the answers were worth waiting for.
Lice are always a good topic of conversation.

Interview 2009: I Ask The Questions

As part of AFM's Interview 2009 I was given the job of asking Jill at 'Twipply Skwood' some searching and insightful questions.

Well, I was pretty slow on the uptake and sent her an initial 6, feeling a bit pathetic and inadequate after Nichole supplied me with about 18!! But HAH! Not only did she only answer the first two in her post....but she has failed to give us the promised Part II of 6, count them, ONLY SIX questions!

I feel officially better.

On the other hand, her answers are quality as is the rest of the blog :-)
Check out her post on Beer in Sunday School!

Come on Jill! I want to hear the other four answers! Actually, I've forgotten what the questions were so I'm doubly interested.